The endless pitches to
refinance my mortgage (which I don’t have) or get university degrees (of
which I already have three) or buy counterfeit software or enlarge certain
body parts… not to mention the porn… are offensive and, in many states, like
California, illegal.

Why does spam exist?
It sure wasn’t the intent of the people who designed the Internet and email.With origins in academia and defense,
the Internet was set up so that there is no variable (i.e., per email) cost
to the sender to send a message.
The unfortunate result is that spammers, the scum of the Internet, can blast
millions of untargeted, offensive emails for their own financial gain, and you, the recipient, end up paying for the
spam.
And by the way,
spam now comprises 90+% of all email.

Smarter people than I have created some decent technological solutions
to the spam problem – click the "Why Spam Sucks" button for more on this.
I choose to attack the problem from the legal side.Why?Because judgments (or pre-trial settlements) hit spammers, or the
marketers who choose to use spammers, directly in their pocketbooks.
My objective in getting into this was – and still is – to increase the
spammers’ cost of doing business.
Maybe then the spammers won't falsify headers, and maybe they’ll think twice
before spamming even after a recipient unsubscribes, and maybe the
legitimate and “quasi-legitimate” marketers will think twice before
purchasing lists of allegedly opt-in email addresses.
If lots of people start suing the spammers, and the principals that benefit
from spamming, maybe it’ll make a difference.

I’ve been storing and tracking spam since the spring of 2002.I have dozens of small claims judgments against
spammers, and several judgments in superior and federal court too.Plus a number
of settlements/resolutions for which I can’t share details.And – with my attorneys – more cases
that are in various stages of development.

Photo by Gary Laufman

Unfortunately, our federal
government passed the
CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, which is not particularly good, from a consumer
perspective. The
idea of stopping spam is of course
great.But there are a lot of
problems with it, and the worst part is that it attempts to pre-empt the
state laws, some of which – like California,
Virginia,
Washington, and others – have actually made an
impact.But, there is an exception to preemption. CAN-SPAM does not
pre-empt anti-spam state laws that prohibit falsity & deception, which California does
(Business & Professions Code §17529.5) – click the "Spam and the Law" button for more
detail on this – and so I continue to file lawsuits.

I don't like telemarketers either.
Click
here to
register your home/cell phone with the FTC’s
“Do Not Call” list, or to file a complaint. Telemarketers who
call you if you’re
on the list may be fined up to $11,000.

Along these lines, here's a website
with some information on how to sue telemarketers:
www.KillTheCalls.com

Legitimate contacts only:

I also hate forced arbitration clauses in contracts of adhesion
that deny consumers the right to fight back. Let's say you
sign up for cell phone service. Buried in those pages and
pages of tiny print you'll usually find a class action waiver, and a
provision that forces you into arbitration for any kind of dispute.
It's not like you had any power to negotiate that contract.
And it's not like you can go to some other cell phone provider,
because they all have comparable language. So if AT&T
overcharges you five bucks, you have to shell out hundreds or
thousands of dollars in arbitration costs to fight it, which you
won't do, and AT&T knows it. So they can get away with
overcharging you. This is exactly why class actions
exist... so lots of people, each harmed just a little bit, can join
together. Which is why the California Supreme Court and the
Ninth Circuit said that class action waivers like these are
unconscionable and void. But the U.S. Supreme Court says it's
too risky to defendants if class action waivers are void.
Seems to me what's really risky to defendants is doing bad things
that make people want to sue you! Anyway, there's proposed
legislation in the works to fix this.
Click here to sign Citizen.org's petition to end forced arbitration.

NO SPAM POLICY!!!!

All persons, businesses, and other entities that send any unsolicited
commercial email to any email address containing “danbalsam.com”
voluntarily enter a contract with Dan Balsam and agree to be bound by
the terms of the contract and “No Spam Policy” as described herein.

1.
Unless Dan Balsam or someone else with an email address including
“danbalsam.com” has specifically opted in to receive commercial email
from you, you understand and agree that neither Dan Balsam nor anyone
else with an email address including “danbalsam.com” has ever requested
any commercial communication from you, and that any commercial email you
send that includes “danbalsam.com” in the To, Cc, or Bcc fields that
fits these criteria is against the express wishes of the recipient(s).

2. As consideration for reading your unsolicited commercial email,
you agree that any email you send which advertises or promotes any
product, service, or Internet destination shall be subject to a
$25,000.00 fee for reading and responding appropriately.The fee may be paid in advance at
PayPal, or Dan Balsam will remit an invoice.

3. You accept responsibility for any affiliates or marketing
agents who promote any product, service, or Internet destination on your
behalf.

4. Concealing your identity increases the fee by $10,000.00 to
compensate for the effort to track down the sender.

5. You may
not sell, barter, or give away to any other party any email addresses
containing the domain name “danbalsam.com.”Violation of this clause subjects you to liquidated damages of
$10,000.00 or ten (10) times the amount of money you made selling the
address(es), whichever is greater.

7.
In the event that any suit or action is instituted to enforce any
provision in this contract, Dan Balsam shall be entitled to all costs
and expenses of maintaining such suit or action, including reasonable
attorneys’ fees.

8. This contract shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon
the parties hereto and their respective heirs, successors, assigns,
administrators, executors and other legal representatives.

9. Any action in respect of or concerning this contract shall be
litigated solely in California and both parties consent to jurisdiction
in California. This contract shall be governed by, construed and
enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of California.

10. Sending email to or copying to or blind
copying to any email address containing the domain name “danbalsam.com,”
or similar actions by your affiliates/agents, constitutes voluntary
acceptance of these terms.